Cargo Business Techwire

Friday, May 29, 2015

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MOL’s propeller boss cap system hits milestone

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines announced that the energy-saving Propeller Boss Cap Fins it developed with several partners have now been ordered for 3,000 vessels worldwide.

The PBCF is an energy-saving device attached to the propeller of a vessel. MOL says it breaks up the hub vortex generated behind the rotating propeller, resulting in a decrease of more than 9,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year because of a 3-5 percent reduction in fuel consumption, when installed on a large-scale containership.

MOL developed the boss cap system with West Japan Fluid Engineering Laboratory Co. and Nakashima-Mitsuwa Propeller Co. Research and development started in 1986, and sales began the following year. Since then an increasing number of ship owners, mainly in Japan, began to adopt the system.

By 2006, the PBCF had been ordered for 1,000

vessels, the statement said. The number of ships adopting it has doubled in just five years, reaching the 2,000 vessel milestone in 2011, and now the 3,000 ship milestone in just four years.

Features of PBCF include a 3-5 percent reduction in fuel consumption, a corresponding reduction in CO2 emissions and a reduction in propeller torque. No hull modification is needed for installation.